Opole, the historical capital of Upper Silesia
Monday, 29 October 2012 - 01:17 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union General
Reading Time: 3 minutes
North part of Opole’s centre © Kaww
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Opole is a city in southern Poland on the
Oder River (Odra). It has a population of 126,000 and is the capital of the
Upper Silesia ,
Opole Voivodeship and, also the seat of
Opole County . Opole hosts the annual
National Festival of Polish Song . The city is also known for its 10th century Church of St. Adalbert and the 14th century Church of the Holy Cross.
Alongside German and Polish, many citizens of Opole-Oppeln before 1945 used a strongly German-influenced Silesian dialect known as Wasserpolnisch , or Wasserpolak . Because of this, the post-war Polish state administration after the annexation of Silesia in 1945 did not initiate a general expulsion of all former inhabitants of Opole, as was done in Lower Silesia, for instance, where the population almost exclusively spoke the German language.
Traditional Opole house at Muzeum Wsi Opolskiej © Jacek Nitkiewicz
Because they were considered “
autochthonous ” (Polish), the Wasserpolak-speakers instead received the right to remain in their homeland after declaring themselves as Poles. Some German speakers took advantage of this decision, allowing them to remain in their Oppeln, even when they considered themselves to be of German nationality. The city surroundings currently contain the largest German and Upper Silesian minorities in Poland. However, in Opole it is only 2.46%
German .
Read more on
City of Opole ,
Opole Airport ,
University of Opole ,
Opole University of Technology and
Wikipedia Opole . Learn more about the
use of photos . To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (
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